The science of acupuncture has been practiced in China for many centuries. However, only recently has it attracted the interest of the western world, and thus, only recently has it been exposed to the scientific methods of the west.
As originally practiced, acupuncture treatment required that acupuncture needles comprising thin stainless steel needles approximately 5 inches long, be inserted into a patient's body at very precise points, called acupuncture points, or trigger points, for stimulating certain nerve lines called meridians. Different symptoms can be treated by selectively stimulating specific acupuncture points.
Although it is known that the Chinese have used electricity as a means of stimulation of the acupuncture points, in addition to simply inserting acupuncture needles in the proper sites, little is known about the early Chinese electrical stimulators, since there appears to be no publications on the subject, and further, it has been extremely difficult to remove such devices from China up to the present time. However, from the limited information available, it is known that the Chinese electrical devices primarily use a d.c. current source which has a tendency to electrically shock the patient. Moreover, because of the Chinese intuitive approach to acupuncture treatment, no metering systems have been used in conjunction with the equipment.
With the recent interest in acupuncture treatment in the west, a few electrical devices for acupuncture have appeared in the western markets. Most of such devices such as that disclosed in Lock, U.S. Pat. No. 3,900,020, Blanchard, U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,789, McCall, U.S. Pat. No. 4,319,584, Eugenio, U.S. Pat. No. 4,052,978 and Wing, U.S. Pat. No. 4,180,079, all relate to instruments for acupuncture treatment in which actual low level electric current is directly applied, continuously or in pulse form, to a patient, particularly at acupuncture points on a patient's body.
A number of other patents, such as Brown, U.S. Pat. No. 435,376, Neel, U.S. Pat. No. 1,120,964, Elmi, U.S. Pat. No. 3,337,776 and Gorden et al, U.S. Pat. No. 3,664,327 disclose, the general application of electromagnetic radiation to a body for various medical purposes. MacLean, U.S. Pat. No. 3,658,051 discloses the application of a relatively strong electromagnetic pulse to ailing parts of a body, each pulse having a duration of approximately a quarter second, with a frequency of approximately two pulses per second, such pulsating magnetic field being applied to such body for a period of a few minutes. These pulses are administered to certain specified sites, although there is no suggestion that the electromagnetic radiation be applied to acupuncture points or any other nerves in a body.
Basically, the ancient Chinese art of acupuncture works on the theory and principal that the placement and positioning of acupuncture needles in specified locations on the body blocks the path of neurological transmission of pain impulses thereby relieving a patient of certain pains. In addition, the placement of such needles in acupuncture points or trigger points can be used to initiate certain nerve impulses thereby ennervating various internal glands and organs to activation. As a second step to the approach of applying needles to the specified acupuncture points, a variation which has recently been used, and is described in some of the patents listed above, is the use of acupuncture needles providing a low level electrical stimulation at the acupuncture points thereby, in theory, providing an accentuated stimulus at said points.
Another method for treatment of certain muscle and joint related bodily pains, which method is well-known in the western world, comprises application of heat such as using a heating pad or whirlpool of hot or warm water to the joints. However, there has not heretofore been a combination of acupuncture and such western medical techniques such as heating pads or physical therapy to benefit patients having various aches, pains and the like such as those caused by arthritis, rheumatism, osteoarthritis, gout, migraine, gonarthritis, newralgia, lumbargo and similar muscle and joint problems. Moreover, some persons, particularly westerners, have been somewhat reluctant to undergo acupuncture treatment as a result of their fear of the acupuncture needles. In addition, the use of acupuncture needles which are inserted into a patient's body carry a risk of transmitting disease from one patient to another, since the needles are typically reused. The present invention seeks to overcome some of the problems with the old acupuncture to provide such treatment in a manner somewhat more acceptable to westerners, and which provides a broader range of treatment for many ailments.